Tigers attack Lanka Army base

Colombo, Sept. 9: A pre-dawn assault by Tamil Tiger rebels at a military base in northern Sri Lanka left at least 20 dead and a rebel aircraft destroyed, the government said on Tuesday, while a pro-LTTE website claimed two Indians had been wounded.

The Sri Lankan military claimed it had thwarted the assault by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the joint headquarters of Sri Lanka’s military and Air Force in Vavuniya town, about 254 km north of here. At least 10 rebels and 10 soldiers were killed.

In a statement, the defence ministry said the rebels had mounted a land attack backed by long-range artillery fire. Amid the attack, two light-wing aircraft of the rebels entered the Vavuniya air space and dropped a few bombs on the Vavuniya airfield.

"The terrorists opened fire on the Army camp in order to prevent counter attack and directed their ground assault at the airbase. However, soldiers moved forward amid heavy enemy fire and crushed the terrorists’ ground assault completely," the defence ministry said.

"Ten bodies of slain LTTE cadres have been found so far. Ten soldiers laid down their lives and 15 others suffered injuries. One police constable was killed and eight others sustained injuries due to the enemy artillery fire," it said, adding that five Air Force personnel were also injured.

It said that Air Force fighter jets had intercepted "two LTTE light aircraft fleeing after the failed mission at Vavuniya and shot down one of the aircraft in the Mullaitivu skies".

There was no immediate word from the LTTE. However, the pro-LTTE puthinam.com website alleged that during the raid on the military base, LTTE aircraft had targeted a building where Indian-made 2-D Indra radars were housed. The pro-rebel website, however, did not say anything about Sri Lanka’s claim of shooting down one aircraft.

It claimed that the radars were damaged, while two Indian engineers operating these radars were also wounded in the attack and taken to Colombo for treatment. —IANS